Not Your Average
by LiesRungTrue
Summary: The time is 957AD and four people are about to come together to make history that will be remembered 1000 years down the line. We have the Celtic noble, the Viking artist, the Byzantine merchant and the Anglo-Saxon who started it all...
1. Founders

Disclaimer: The founder themselves belong to J.K.Rowling, I am only borrowing them. Rivalin is mine, however as he's not too important, this really doesn't matter much.

Chapter 1.

"I'm sorry Gryffindor, but as admirable as your idea sounds and as honoured as I am by your offer, I really don't have the time or energy to take you up on it."

The rather annoyed tone of her father's voice was what first caught Rowena's attention, she didn't know he had visitors. It was so rare that he saw anyone these days that she just had to see who'd managed to get an audience with Rivalin Ravenclaw. As she peeked round the door to her father's chamber she caught sight of the oddest trio she'd ever seen; a Saxon man almost as old as Rivalin stood in front of her father's chair, probably the Gryffindor man she'd heard mentioned. He really was rather small, nearly as short as the wild-looking Viking woman who stood behind him. Rowena thought she looked familiar, she'd probably seen her or another of her family during her visits to the coastal villages. And then there was that last one, she'd never seen anyone so dark! There really couldn't be anyway that he was from the Isles, or even from across the water. He must have travelled far in his lifetime, as short as it seemed, he couldn't have been more than a decade older than her at most. She really had to find out where he was from, find out where he'd been, she just had to!

"Ah Rowena, enter, I'm sure my friends here would be pleased to meet you." It wasn't a request, and so she went in, rather embarrassed at being caught eavesdropping, not to mention the way she towered over them. Honestly, why couldn't her father deal with some normal people for once instead of these awful, tiny invaders.

"May I introduce my daughter and apprentice Rowena? Rowena, these are Godric Gryffindor," Ah so her guess had been right, "Helga Hufflepuff," the name didn't ring a bell, perhaps she had been mistaken about knowing her from before, "and Salazar Slytherin." He even had a strange way of greeting, why bow like that? "They're hoping to start up a place where our kind can learn about our talents without prosecution." She looked at the trio again with a new found admiration in her eyes. Oh to be a part of something like that! Why her father had refused, she couldn't guess. "I expect you'll be seeing more of them if the venture succeeds."

The Viking, Helga, she thought, shook her head. "I'm afraid it's unlikely, we were hoping to teach the younger ones, children mainly. So that they'll long be done by the time they reach your daughter's age."

"I'm sure she'll manage all the same, my Rowena's a very bright and talented girl, almost as much as her father."

It was strange how the trio's attention turned to her then, a new interest in their eyes.

"Honoured sir, if I might perhaps suggest a solution?" That dark man's way of speech matches his looks, utterly foreign. She's never heard an accent like it, even as much as she's travelled.

"What is it?"

Rowena already has an inkling of what it might be though, and she tries to not get her hopes up. Oh to carry on teaching without having to travel constantly, to be able to do her work in warmth and safety would be heaven. Even if her father refuses she'll still find someway to do it, she must.

"You were considering having your daughter sent to us for tuition, yesno?"

"I was."

"Perhaps then, she might aid us where you were not able to. If, as you say she is much like yourself and you have imparted much of your knowledge unto her, then perhaps she could do the same to others. It of course would not be as great as honour as having yourself there but it would still make our group far better than if neither of you were there."

Well he certainly was a flatterer and knew exactly how to get through to her father, he did look much happier than he did when she first saw him in the meeting. If she went it would also relieve the pressure on him from local leaders, even though it was accepted that as a Celt, and a Druid at that, she had every right to impart knowledge, it would be preferred by all if it were just her brother doing it and not her. At least this way they would get the best of both worlds.

"Rowena, what do you say?" He was actually asking her? How could he not already know the answer?

"If you allow it, I believe it would be an interesting experience."

"Then you shall go." Her grin nearly matches those of the trio, but not quite.

"Now," Rivalin Ravenclaw stood up out of his massive chair and loomed over all of them, "what are you calling this place? I must know what I'll be bragging about."

The Viking and the dark one looked rather awkward then, but the Saxon, Gryffindor just beamed further.

"Hogwarts." He said proudly.

"What?" he demanded into the silence while Rowena tried to stifle a giggle.

* * *

Well, love? Hate? Couldn't give a fig either way? Push the button and tell me! Please?


	2. Wooing

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 2

This really was very interesting, and the permutations for it were endless. When Godric had said he'd love a moving floorplan and could she possibly think something up, pretty please with stone circles on top? she'd been rather sceptical about the whole thing. It would be hard enough getting round the huge castle he'd designed without making it so maps were completely useless. But she'd patted his hand and told him she'd see what she could do anyway.

As always Salazar's library had proved fruitful as had her letter back home to her father. Thing was, now she was completely overwhelmed with information, she'd been at this problem for nearly a week now and while she had made some progress in other areas, she'd not found one single reference to moving floors.

This new book looked promising though, it was one of her own ones, well her father's, that she'd brought up from home. She just wished she'd brushed up on her Ogham before coming here, granted it was easier to decipher than that blasted Greek Salazar used, but it would have been better if it was in good old Latin. And what was that noise? She'd specifically asked to have quiet.

"Oh darlingest one, thou's eyes are liketh as to stars in the nighteth's sky."

Oh, it was Godric again.

"Shalt one compareth thee to the beauty of Eostre at dawn? Or liken thy's cleverty to that of the heathen's Athene?"

"You're doing it wrong." She hoped that would stop him, his mangling of language really was quite painful. Last week he'd tried Latin, she never wanted to hear another tagged on –us ending again.

"Am I? Ah well. How are you getting on?"

See, that was his problem, he never bothered to try after he'd failed the once. After all, why bother to learn something if it's hard? Rowena thought wryly, not bothering to even look up from her book.

"Not much luck yet. However, if you don't want the commoners finding the castle, or stop it being put on any sort of map, then I've got everything you need."

She didn't bother to hide a smile as Godric's face lit up over these possibilities. "Where are they?" She pointed to the stack of parchments and he literally bounded over to them. "This is great Rowena! I've got to go show them to the others, see what they think." Get them to tell you what they mean too, no doubt. As brilliant as Godric was with his ideas and such, in Rowena's mind it still didn't quite make up for the fact that he couldn't read or write very well; especially not her flowing script.

Just as he was leaving, he spotted what she was reading and looked intrigued. For someone nearly twice her age, he really did retain an almost childlike curiosity, she thought.

"What are those strange markings you're looking at."

"They're Ogham."

"Oh." She started the countdown in her head, three, two, one... "What's Ogham?"

"The language of my ancestors."

"So what does that say?" He pointed to one of the lines of runes.

"Tinne, it means holly. That bit's mostly about the making of magical conduits. Wands and staves and the like. You wouldn't be very interested, after all you've got your sword, haven't you?"

He beamed and nodded, "That I have, and really, who needs wands? Tiny, little, swishy things. Hardly any use in battle at all. Bah. Anyway, keep up the good work my girl, I know you'll get there eventually." Finally having lost interest, he wandered out, probably going to show off what 'he' found to Salazar who wouldn't have it for a minute.

Or, as she listen to the enraged bellows of a rather fierce Viking woman, he'd go brag about how swords were the best weapon ever and anything else wasn't really worth bothering about. To Helga, who's axe really was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship... until you saw the chips in the blade. Still it was better this way, at least Godric would learn to keep quiet once in a while and Helga would be able to keep in practice. It's not like she'd be able to attack the students once they arrived.

Speaking of students, she really needed to get this floorplan sorted out, else they'd never be coming...


	3. Motto

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 3

"Oh Helga, that's wonderful!"

Rowena clapped her hands together in pleasure; the crest Helga had just finished was remarkable. Who'd have thought that the loud, violent, Viking woman was such an artist? Then again, she had suspected it a little when Helga had mentioned in passing that she'd decorated the metalwork on her axe herself, especially when she'd had a closer look at the knot-work on it.

"Indeed, you've really outdone yourself this time."

Praise from Salazar, now that was something to be proud of, the mercantile side of him was extraordinarily picky when it came to quality of work. And it looked like Helga knew it too as she smiled at him in thanks.

"So Godric," Rowena turned to the Saxon man who'd been rather quiet up until now, "what do you think?"

He stayed silent a little more with a thoughtful look on his face, or at least Rowena thought so, before he spoke.

"Helga?"

"Yes?" She replied, a little warily. With good reason too, Rowena thought to herself, after all the previous two times they'd asked his opinion of the crest he'd asked her to redo the whole thing. Surely he couldn't be doing that now, the piece was _perfect_.

"Why a badger?" To be honest, it was something she'd wondered about herself. The other three were pretty easy to figure out; after all they figured largely in each of their lives in some way. Salazar used a green snake as his trading sign, Rowena's own family crest was a dark blue raven on a bronze background so the choice there was obvious and Godric... well Godric wanted a dragon, then an acromantula, then a jarvey and five hundred other things that took his fancy at that particular moment. In the end, Helga had gotten fed up with all the changes and just bunged the first one he'd picked in, a lion. He actually seemed quite happy with the decision.

But in response to his question, Helga just shrugged. "I like badgers."

"Very good then, excellent work Helga. All we need now is a motto..."

* * *

"Rowena! Come and have a look what Salazar bought!"

"Ah there you are Godric, I wanted to talk to you about that mot-"

"In a minute." He grabbed her arm and pulled her over to where Salazar was standing, just in front of a large, opalescent egg.

"Oh he didn't." It couldn't be what she thought it was, after all Salazar wouldn't waste money on something as dangerous as that. Would he?

"It's a dragon egg! Isn't it marvellous?" Godric was practically beaming.

"Of course it is, Godric. It's beautiful." She then looked at Salazar and said to him _sotto voice_ so that Godric wouldn't here. "Why on Earth did you buy that? It can't be safe, and what are we going to do with it once the students arrive?"

"It was gift actually, from a client hoping to curry favour. As for dealing with it, we'll just have to make sure we employ someone capable enough to manage it. Besides, there's rather a large market for dragon's blood at the moment. If we ever get low on funds..."

"Honestly, Salazar." Rowena smiled at his comment, although it was a little difficult to tell whether he was joking or not. "Have you thought about this motto idea at all?"

"Not particularly, I have been occupied with other things." She did have to concede that point, arranging the finances and supplies for the future school was a humungous task and certainly one that Rowena herself couldn't do. Salazar had admitted before now that I was taking all his skill to get things sorted. "Why, have you?"

"A little." About six or seven full parchments worth, and still she had none that really suited. She'd thought talking it over with one of the others would help. "But I have to go now anyway, the stairs nearest the Hall has been falling out of pattern and I really must get it sorted."

"Yes, we certainly wouldn't want any midair collisions, would we? Still, I must say that it is a wonder that you got them moving. I'd never seen anything like it at all before now."

"Flatterer."

* * *

"How about 'From possibility to actuality'?"

Helga swished her newly-made wand – Rivalin had made one for each of the four as a gift – and put the wording under the crest. A translation spell Rowena had set up translated it into Latin. Rowena had insisted that the motto had to be in Latin, it was only proper after all.

"Put that on the maybe pile I think." Salazar said, yawning. After several hours of doing this it really was getting quite boring and having to listen to Godric coo over his newly-hatched Welsh Green outside didn't help. Still it was better than nothing, and until the prospective teachers arrived for their interviews, there really was nothing else to do.

"'Knowledge is power'?"

"I think perhaps not. It doesn't sit underneath the crest properly." That was another one down then, another hundred or so to go.

"'No offence intended'? What, that can't be right."

"I expect Godric's been putting down suggestions again, for some reason I can't imagine you coming up with..." Salazar looked down the parchment briefly before putting his finger on a heavily-written suggestion, "'My dog ate it' for example."

"It's a shame," Helga said studying the words underneath the crest, "That first suggestion of his fits perfectly."

"So why not use it? It's not like the general populace will know what it means."

"I'd know. We're not using it." It was the principle of the thing, Rowena, no offence intended indeed.

"How about 'Cogito Ergo Doleo' then?" Salazar said smiling.

This seemed to set Helga off who said in amongst gasping laughs, "Or what about 'Appareo Decet Nihil Mundita?'"

The thought of having that as their motto was funny, Rowena had to admit. "I suppose we could just tell the truth, 'Non Curo!'" At that she curled up, laughing.

The silliest suggestions followed from each of the three, some rather obscene ones came from Helga whilst Salazar came up with the strangest ones. They became wilder and more hysterical with each one, the boredom presumably having driven them to such daftness. Of course, when Godric came in, beard frazzled and still smoking, he was presented with a rather unusual sight.

It was Rowena who first noticed the sorry state that the other founder was in, and it sobered her up a fair bit whilst the other two just sniggered at him. "Why Godric, what on Earth's happened to you?"

"Never tickle..." He was interrupted by a large coughing fit caused by the smoke, "a sleeping dragon."

"That's it!" The other's winced at Rowena's outburst and gaped as she leapt up and literally lifted Godric up off the floor in a hug. "That's it! Thank you, Godric!"

"She's gone insane." Helga muttered to a nodding Salazar.

"No, no. Look." She took her own wand and jabbed it where the crest sat. The words 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus' scrolled gently underneath it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our school motto."

* * *

Love it? Hate it? Don't care either way? Tell me why.


	4. Sorting Hat

Disclaimer: Again, not mine.

A/N: Thanks very much Rae Roberts! I'm flattered. As for the Latin 'motto's', they are 'I think therefore I am depressed', 'Isn't it cool?' (sort of) and 'I don't care!'

Chapter 4

So much for relaxation, Rowena thought as she heard an anguished howl fill the air. Five minutes to get on with her astronomy charts wasn't that much to ask, was it? Apparently so. Getting up, she wondered what Godric had done this time.

Surprisingly, when she got outside to assess the damage the Saxon wasn't anywhere in sight. Just Helga, sitting underneath her usual tree, looking slightly more frazzled than usual. Then again, she really did have reason to be so; whilst all of them were busy setting different things up; Salazar, the finances; herself, the Curriculum and Godric, the provisions which was proving harder than originally thought. Yet it was Helga who seemed to have the most difficult task of all at times; actually finding and contacting the potential students about their education here at Hogwarts.

"What's the matter?" Rowena asked as she sat down next to the Viking woman.

"Oh just everything." Helga really had calmed down over the months since they'd moved up to the castle, although, as Rowena noticed the axe buried deep into the trunk of the tree a moment later, she still had a long way to go. "I haven't heard back from even one of the families I sent messengers out to about letting their children join the school. And if the landowners aren't replying, Odin knows what the peasants will be like."

"These things take time Helga, give it another week and then the messengers will be back, remember how long it took for us to get up here? And we had better weather conditions for that."

Helga sighed, "It's not that. I know it will take them a long while to return, it's Godric."

"What's he done now?" She knew he had to figure into it somehow; it wasn't as if the two didn't get along, it was just that they had such strong personalities. It was inevitable that they'd clash sometimes.

"He suggested that this task was too hard for me, and that I'd be better dealing with the provisions and taking care of my children more. How dare he tell me I'd be better off stuck in the kitchens, bare-footed and pregnant!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that." Although, Rowena thought, he probably did. Unlike her own and Helga's culture, Godric's was a bit more male-orientated and he was still adjusting his world-view to fit in with the others'. Besides it wasn't as if Inge and Pedar Hufflepuff, Helga's children, weren't old enough to take care of themselves. Her son Pedar was actually courting one of the girls from the local village, whilst Inge, her daughter was helping Rowena out with the basics of the curriculum. While Rowena was excellent at the more complicated subjects, she was too impatient to teach the basic Numeracy and Literacy lessons that would no doubt be needed. Inge was a godsend there, she was calm and collected, rather the opposite of her mother really. "Was he the reason for that howling I heard earlier?"

"He was." Helga did cheer up a little at that answer, looking a little smug, Rowena thought.

"What did you do to him?" He looked ridiculous enough with his burnt beard; she just hoped it wasn't anything serious.

"Oh nothing permanent, don't worry."

"Helga, what did you do?" Her voice was sterner now.

Cautiously the other woman opened up a fist that Rowena hadn't even noticed was clenched. In it was a rather large shock of curly, brown hair. Hair that matched Godric's.

A hand flew up to Rowena's mouth to stifle a laugh, "You didn't."

"He'll remember next time not to insult me like that."

"Will he?" Rowena was dubious, it wasn't as if Godric did it on purpose but he was very talented at putting his foot in his mouth, normally not realise he'd said anything wrong till he saw the insulted person's reaction. No doubt he'd say something else wrong by the end of the week.

"Probably not," Helga conceded, smiling, "But at least I got my revenge for this one."

* * *

Salazar sat with Rowena in the vast library, only about a tenth-filled with books at this time, pouring over budgets for the different lessons when Godric wandered in.

"Ah there you are, our friend down in Hogsmeade wants a higher payment for the crops he's sending us, he says... what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"When did you get that hat, Godric?"

Salazar's question was quite innocent; neither of the two women had told him about the incident with the axe last week.

"I've had it ages."

"But it looks new."

"Look, stop changing the subject, can we afford to pay him more?"

"You started the topic, not me. All I did was look at you, and no, we can't. I'll talk to him tomorrow about it, work something out."

_"Flabra."_ Rowena couldn't resist, the hat was only loosely on anyway and it fell rather easily even in that slight puff of wind she made. And Godric really did look funny trying to catch his had as it dropped, she hadn't seen him flap like that since he'd run too fast down that frozen corridor on the southern wing.

"Godric! What have you done to your hair?" The large bald spot just above his left ear was more than a little noticeable.

"I don't want to talk about it." Godric grabbed his hat, jammed it back on his head and stormed out leaving an amused Salazar and a giggling Rowena behind.

"Rowena, what did you do?"

"Not me," she said amongst laughs, "Helga."

"Did he deserve it?"

"Oh yes."

"That's all right then. Still, it's a nice hat. Looks very hard wearing..."


	5. Staff

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: This ones for Rae Roberts because... I said so.

Chapter 5

It was mid-April when the thought first occurred to Rowena, and it niggled at her all throughout the month. As industrious as the four of them had been, there still seemed something missing at Hogwarts apart from the students – they wouldn't be coming until after the harvest.

Eventually, she decided to approach Salazar about it, after all he was sorting out all the problems of that kind.

"Salazar?" She'd caught him in his usual place; a table in their rather magnificent library (at the size of a longhouse it was indeed something to be proud of) which he had turned into his study of late.

He looked up from his rows of neatly scribed figures and simply looked at her. She knew that by that look he was giving her, he had a number nicely balanced in his head and if he spoke now, he'd lose it.

"Finish it off first, I don't mind." Rowena had been amazed when she'd first seen Salazar working in his books, she'd thought that she'd been good at Figuring, but compared to him, she was a novice. It had certainly been an eye-opener for her.

Salazar nodded gratefully and scribbled down a few more numbers, his hand still meticulous despite the speed. It was something the pair of them had over the other two Founders, Godric could write but only if he had time to do so and Helga was completely illiterate, not that she was any the lesser for it. She had her art, a talent that none of the others had in any degree. While she was ruminating, Salazar finished what he had been writing and placed down his brush.

"Now, Rowena, what is it?"

"Do we have enough people here to educate the amount of students that are coming? Even with Caflice and Inge helping, surely there can't be enough." Caflice Alleson and his wife Elva had moved up from the local village to help out with the general running of the castle. Nearly into their forties they could hardly be expected to deal with the children once they arrived, even if they had had a large family in their time. And Inge, Inge Hufflepuff was a Godssend; Rowena didn't know what she would have done without her. She needed someone of a similar age to talk to, Helga was wonderful but she was as old as her mother, and could be more than a little daunting at times. But Inge was nearly the opposite of her mother, mild and sweet and infinitely patient whereas Helga still threw the occasional ax.

"Don't worry; Godric's taken care of it."

Rowena nodded and left Salazar to his sums, rather worried about this new piece of information.

* * *

She awoke a week later to a tremendous din echoing through the castle. Immediately getting up and ready, she hurried out a while later on a hunt for Godric, he was after all, the usual source of any sort of disturbance in the castle. On the way she met Helga, who unsurprisingly, had her ax in hand. She couldn't blame the woman this time though, it wasn't even dawn yet.

The source of the clamour soon made itself known as they stormed into the Great Hall at the centre of the castle and were met with a most unusual sight. Rowena counted at least six people in the Hall, four of whom she'd never seen before. In the centre of it all stood a figure, who on closer inspection turned out to be a woman of Romany descent despite the man's tunic she wore. She seemed to be playing a musical instrument of some kind that Rowena had never seen before and while the fast-paced music was not to her liking, the woman seemed to be quite good at it.

Around her was Godric and... what seemed to be his brother, or at least another Saxon that bore a remarkable liking to the Founder. They were both dancing, badly and singing completely out of tune – that was the source of the din that had woken her up; her quarters weren't too far from the Hall and a sound such as they were making carried far.

Further away stood Salazar and an extremely tall, dark-skinned woman who seemed to be attempting conversation with their hands over their ears. Rowena could hardly blame them, the noise was deafening. And above them all, up on the stage where their dining table lay, sat a man dressed in a long white robe of some sort, who seemed to find the whole thing most amusing as he was currently giggling his head off.

"Godric!" Rowena tried shouting over the noise to no avail. Eventually she gave up and strode into the middle of the room and grabbed his shoulder.

"Godric."

"Ah, there you are Rowena! I was wondering when you'd come to join the fun, and I see you've brought Helga too. Excellent! Won't you join me for a dance?" He grabbed her waist and managed to swing her around once or twice before she struggled free.

"Godric! Who are these people?" Even with her naturally loud voice, she had to shout.

"Well, that's Mert, and this is Berkley and the woman over there, well I'm not sure who she is you'll have to ask Salazar her name, but I know the happy lad over at the table is Balasi. Rather a strange fellow if you ask me but very good at Divination. Now come on Rowena, dance with me!"

She avoided his grasp this time but couldn't help smiling at his exuberance; Godric could be most infectious at times. "No, Godric, I mean why are they here?"

"Well you should have said that my dear. And haven't you guessed it yet? They're our new staff!" And with that he jigged off, as the player, Mert apparently, picked up the pace once more, leaving Rowena with an astonished look on her face.

"What?"

* * *

insert usual review pleas here


	6. Potions Professor

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 6

Rowena admitted it, she'd put off meeting the new members of staff after that first, memorable encounter. Now she was stuck though, she'd finished her curriculum along with several others. She'd written letters to her father, her cousins and whoever else she could think of and sent them off. Her quarters were spotless and couldn't be arranged more efficiently than they were already. It was inevitable, she'd have to go out and risk meeting one of the newcomers.

It was silly, she finally decided, after trying and failing to work through another Ogham book that she'd managed to dig up from somewhere. She was going to be working with these people, she couldn't avoid them forever. She'd go see that dark-skinned woman, the one she'd seen talking to Salazar. She at least seemed normal, seemed being the operative word. She couldn't be that bad though, could she?

* * *

She wasn't. Or at least that was how it appeared at first glance. She'd finally tracked down the woman, Serafina, according to Godric, down in the dungeons. Why she was there, Rowena couldn't guess, the ground floor classrooms were far nicer, not to mention warmer. Then again, perhaps she liked the cold.

Or not. Rowena was more than a little surprised at having the door answered by a large bundle of material which spoke to her in fluent Arabic or a few moments before switching over to Latin nearly instantly.

"Do you speak Latin then? Ah yes, I see by your look that you do. Come in, come in." The clothes moved aside and Rowena wandered in mutely, still rather bemused by the sight. It wasn't until the bundle removed several scarves from around its top that she realised that underneath it all, lay the woman she'd been looking for. "Forgive my appearance, I am not used to such cold but unfortunately my creations need the stable temperature down here, so here I must remain. I am sure I will become used to it soon. If not, then I'm sure I will find warmer clothes."

Rowena simply nodded, if this was normal, what were the others going to be like?

"Oh but you must pardon my rudeness!" The woman suddenly exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air, "Sit, sit. Do you drink? My Salazar has this wonderful concoction from the East, tea. Have you tried it? Now, tell me, I have seen you before yes? Yes, from when I first arrived here. I did not catch your name though, you ran off too quickly although I cannot blame you, the noise that day was most painful on the ears."

Rowena sat for a second or two, mouth open at this sudden onslaught but recovered herself soon enough. "Oh, um yes I drink. I have had the pleasure of trying tea, Salazar gave me some when he first got it delivered. And you might have seen me, and my name is Rowena."

"Ah, the Ravenclaw! I have heard of you, my Salazar has chattered on about you so much since I have come. Nothing but good things, he says you are quite the intellectual, very good praise from a man such as him. Perhaps you may have heard something from him of me? He must have mentioned Serafina Talan in his words at least once."

"He has actually, nothing but good things." He'd mentioned her once, after having to deal with a particularly stubborn and obnoxious customer. She'd never thought to connect the Serafina who was 'most efficient with dealing with his type' with the Serafina that Godric had pointed out to her and who was now in the same room with her. She'd have to watch her tea closely.

"Of course. Do you take honey with your tea?"

"Yes please." Rowena did have a sweet tooth, she had to admit. And honey in tea was one of her favourite ways of indulging it, it still didn't stop her from peering at Serafina's hands as they moved quickly from pot to cup and back. The woman must have noticed her staring as she gave a small chuckle.

"Do not worry. You have not offended me and as yet I have not been paid to take care of you, I do not waste my talents and supplies without a reason. You are perfectly safe." Oddly, this did not reassure Rowena in the slightest.

"Thank you?"

This answer seemed to satisfy the dark-skinned woman, who sat down and passed a delicate cup full of tea to Rowena. "Now, Salazar tells me that you are the one in charge of deciding what should be taught. I am intrigued."

The change of topic clamed Rowena somewhat, and sipping her tea – which tasted perfectly normal – she started explaining her ideas for the Potions syllabus.


	7. Pet

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Chapter 7

It was a lovely day, bright and sunny for the first time in weeks, so Rowena had decided to take a walk outside. Hogwarts was such a different environment to what she was used to – there were days when she got so tired of its stone walls and empty halls that she just needed to get out of the place for a few hours.

Today happened to be one of those days, and her wanderings had led her to the edge of the massive lake that marked one of the borders of the grounds. She remembered how Godric had insisted on sailing across it when they had first arrived, and then discovering that it had half-frozen and having to trudge across ice the rest of the way. Godric had loved it, but she could remember the uneasiness she felt as she saw huge shadows move below her.

It was because she was lost in her not-so-fond memories that she missed the first few shouts of her name,

"Lady Ravenclaw!"

She turned quickly, trying to find the source of the noise, eventually finding it a bit further on down the lake from where she was. A small figure was waving excitedly at her. It took her a second to recognise who it was; Berkley Vollnison, the Animal Care and Husbandry tutor. They'd passed each other several times in the halls but he'd always had some odd creature in his arms or she'd been rushing to go deal with some emergency. It occurred to her that she had never really had a proper conversation with him yet, and as he'd arrived at Hogwarts over a fortnight ago, it really was past time that she did so.

He seemed to be fishing, probably with a net as there was no rod in sight. As she wandered over, she watched him throw some sort of bait into the water and wondered at what he thought he might be catching; she'd never seen any sort of fish in the lake save those large shadows her first day here.

"Please, sit, Lady." He gestured to the bench he was sitting on; Rowena hesitated a moment before doing so. It was as she predicted, the bench was just too small for her and so she was stuck in that awful knees-around-ears position. A little jealously, she noticed that Berkley's feet barely scraped the ground.

"Just Rowena," she said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat; the stone was freezing cold. "We're all colleagues here, there is no purpose in titles." Besides what would it matter when the students arrived? There were members of both the English and Scottish royal families coming; how could a simple thain's daughter compare to that?

"Ah, but does your father not own the very land that we sit on?"

"He did. He presented it to the four of us when we left though, I believe it is now under both Godric's and Salazar's names."

"I see. But nonetheless, titles are titles and should be used until otherwise invited... Rowena." It sounded like he was reciting some age-old teaching, she was curious as to why he'd have cause to have something like that drummed into him. Berkley threw a bit more bait into the water and Rowena's eyes followed it as it followed a gentle curve and hit the water. It was because of this she noticed that there was no net.

"How is he going to bring in the fish then..." she muttered to herself quietly; although not as quietly as she thought as Berkley seemed to overhear her words.

"And why would I want to do that?" He looked rather amused, at what Rowena couldn't guess.

"Why else would you fish, if not to bring the fish in afterwards?" She was rather confused by it all now, not the least by the smile on his face.

"Ah but you see I am not fishing, so there is no need or desire to bring them in."

"Then what..." She was interrupted by his hand coming up.

"Here." He picked up her hand, seemingly unaware of the affront he caused her, and placed some of the bait in it. "Hold out your hand like this," he held his arm straight out with the hand cupped, "and wait."

She copied his position, feeling slightly silly while doing so, and waited. And waited. And waited. She felt her arm getting tired and still there was no sign of anything happening. In fact, apart from the two of them, there seemed to be no sign of life at all. Not even a bird in the sky.

She might have followed up on that thought, or even raised the point to Berkley had the silence not been interrupted at that point.

A huge tentacle broke the surface of the lake and dived at the pair of them. Rowena froze to the spot, too terrified to even move, let alone scream. It wavered in its course for only a moment before moving slightly left so it was aiming directly at her, or rather her outstretched arm. It shot at her, nearly faster than she could follow...

And then stopped. Just short of her hand.

It then quite carefully and delicately scooped the bait out of her hands, before slipping back into the water again. All that remained of its brief appearance was a few ripples and a slimy residue left on Rowena's hand.

Struck mute, she turned slowly to Berkley, who was beaming happily of all things.

"Well, what do you think? There's a mated pair down there, beautiful creatures, just beautiful."

It wasn't exactly what Rowena had in mind, but then again she couldn't really voice what she was really thinking or else risk turning the air blue around her.

"They're," she squeaked, "they're lovely. But I have to be somewhere else. I'm going now."

She stood up after a few attempts one-handed, not daring to touch anything with the slime. A rictus grin carefully plastered on her face, she backed away slowly. Berkley watched her for a few seconds, smiling, before turning back to face the lake.

It was at this point that she chose to run. So much for being tired of stone walls and empty halls.

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:pokes for reviews: Come on... please? 


	8. Interlude

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Interlude – The Maid in the Mist

It was mid-February and the whole of the grounds was wreathed in mist. This didn't stop her going outside though; she'd grown up next to the ocean, and this mere cloud couldn't compare to some of the haars she'd seen in her lifetime. Besides, it did lend the view a most wonderful eerie atmosphere and put a silence on the land that she hadn't encountered since the beginning of the school year. And as cold and damp as it was, she needed some respite from the students; from the never-ending energy and chatter of the children in her and the others' care. A long walk around the grounds, perhaps even into the forest or down to the village, was just what she needed.

It was a tough decision, which path to take; the forest had always captivated her, she'd never seen anything like it before coming here. Something so massive and wild, to think that some of the trees had been standing there longer than her line had been alive. And the village, well it was little more than a hamlet at the moment but under the gentle guidance of Hengist it was thriving. Besides, it meant she'd be able to see how her brother and his family were getting on; she hadn't seen him in a long while, too long in fact.

But her need for quiet and respite won out in the end, she would deal with her brother and his brood another time. She'd take the woods for now.

He'd had to leave his horse back in the stables today, damn this awful mist. So he was forced to hunt on foot, which would no doubt take twice as long as on horse back; but at least he'd have a wider range like he was – the trees got too densely packed further in for a horse to get through. And granted he could have simply waited another day and for the fog to clear but his father and the others were acting... oddly and he'd much rather be out here than back in there this day.

She heard him long before she caught even a glimpse of him through the close-set trees. If he was tracking something, then he wasn't doing a good job of it – every animal in hearing distance had probably ran off a long time before. It was probably a student, they liked to come out here, especially the older ones, and hunt or simply hide. She'd caught one or two of her mother's house trying to build a charcoal kiln earlier in the year – attempting to emulate their parents no doubt. Oddly, her mother hadn't been mad and had instead of nearly decapitating them as she would have expected of her, she'd allowed them to simply relocate nearer to the village. A vital task, her mother had called it, and easier than bringing an outsider in.

She did have to wonder though, what it was that this student was doing.

When he first caught sight of her, gliding through the mist, he felt he must be dreaming. A golden being, fair beyond imagining was there in the glade beyond where he hid. Her colour was as such that she looked as if a shaft of sunlight had taken human form. A villager come up the hill perhaps, or some creature brought by the staff to live here. He could not guess, he did not care, if only he could see her face clearly. Thrice damned be this mist for stopping his view of her.

The red cloak, bright as blood gave him away – amongst all the green how could it not? At least she could narrow it down as to who it might be. Only two, well three really, in the school could afford to wear such a colour and were allowed to wear it; at least she knew now that it was no student. And that while one could afford the dye, he despised the colour to the very depths of his soul, and one had been very busy with... something as she left the school. There was only one left who it could be... of course. She smiled.

"Will you be coming out of there, Goldwin? I can see you, you know."

She knew his name! She had called it in as fair a voice as he would have expected, but what trickery was it that such a being could know his name? And use a tone so hauntingly familiar that it went straight to his very core. There was only one answer that he could think of to explain this golden beauty, and why she was in the woods at such an early hour.

"Eostre..." It was little more than a reverent whisper, but still she must have heard him for she started to turn, to focus on where he was crouched. He knew what he must do.

She watched him run, leaving his bow behind. She'd heard him whisper something, what she could not tell, but she was intrigued as to what could startle him so. Still, Inge thought, it would be a time of great fun when she got back to the castle.

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Right, time for long overdue replies to reviews.

TiffanyKoz – My e-mail's listed. If you have a problem, use it and we'll discuss it. I did point out her errors, I may not have sugar coated it but I wasn't abusive at all. Also, how am I supposed to know if I like a story or not if I don't read it? Logic is a good thing. However, thank you for the relevant and positive comment, I know its more than some would give.

Cori Aileen – Thanks!


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